Ray Price still defiant

Updated 4:29 pm, Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Musician Ray Price poses backstage during day 1 of Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival 2010 held at The Empire Polo Club on April 24, 2010 in Indio, California.

Musician Ray Price poses backstage during day 1 of Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival 2010 held at The Empire Polo Club on April 24, 2010 in Indio, California.

Photo: Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Ray Price still defiant

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Trailblazing country music singer Ray Price says he was never afraid to take a chance.

“I'd rather be sorry for something I've done than something I didn't do,” he said in an interview.

So he never looked back after adding orchestral strings to country-fried fiddle and creating enemies — and more fans — in the late 1960s with such pop-flavored songs as “Danny Boy” and “For the Good Times.”

Accompanied by a string section, Price will sing those songs and signature tunes such as “Crazy Arms” and “Night Life” when he takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. Satur-day at the Majestic Theatre.

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“I took a real beating back then in Nashville for using strings,” Price said. “But I'm a string man. I used them for years.

“I think it's a way of improving the songs. Strings are as close to the human voice as you can get, and they're beautiful.”

Price, who turned 86 in January, cut his first song in 1949 and went on to be one of country music's pioneers across eight decades — carrying the torch of traditional country after the death of his friend Hank Williams, adding his trademark four/four shuffle, being vilified for taking country in a pop direction and defying major record labels and contemporary country radio stations by continuing to record and tour on his own after they figured he was washed up.

Twenty years after most people retire, Price is still going strong with 20-plus dates on his concert calendar so far this year.

His vocals are still rich and vibrant.

“Like any instrument, the more you play it the better you get,” he said.

John Goodspeed is a freelance writer. Email him at john@johngoodspeed.com.